fuzzy510

No. Just an utter lack of foot traffic caused in no small part by the library construction shutting down the sidewalk. The location was effectively at the end of a dead end. Having the parking garage across the street didn't help in terms of foot traffic on that block. Plus, anyone who parks in the garage pretty much automatically exit onto the Ellsworth Ave pedestrian mall.

If you walked out of any office building downtown, you'd go past any number of other options. Even from the closest office building on the SE corner of Georgia and Dale. Cross Georgia - Le Madelaine - Pete's Apizza - Ghar E Kabob. Discovery Channel people feed straight into Ellsworth Ave.

The lack of any illuminated signage couldn't have helped, either.  They never had more than a banner hanging in the window.  So even if you did wander down to that part of the street, there was nothing to draw your eye in.

Going for the first (and last, I suppose) time on Wednesday night.  What's the dress code?  I'm reading conflicting things.

Stopping in tomorrow for brunch.  Anybody been recently?

(also known as, things he should have asked before booking the table)

For the time being, if you want to eat at G, be sure to get there early.  They were having trouble keeping up with demand an hour before the game started, and the next time I hit the concourse (fourth inning or so?), they had already closed up shop for the day.

My chicken parm was very good, though, and a halfway decent ballpark value at $13.  It's a substantial sandwich.

Don't want to hijack this thread, but this "waiter monologue" business is getting out of control and really needs to stop. Listening to one makes me want to slam my head against the table, but interrupting the waiter makes me feel rude and it starts things off on a bad note. Plus, I find them condescending in general...I know how to read a menu, and if I have a question I'll ask. If your menu truly needs a guide, well, it's probably too complicated. Sorry, back to the discussion of an interesting new restaurant...

In almost every case, this is a server tactic used to highlight and sell specific items, not truly an attempt to guide you through the menu.  The restaurant where I was formerly employed brought in a service consultant, and that led to servers being taught that the proper way to greet a guest was to point out each of the very clearly marked sections of the menu (apps, salads, sandwiches, entrees, etc.) and offer one or two suggestions to expand upon.  I'm sure it comes as no surprise that these suggestions were often either the most expensive items of their category (most theoretical tip for the server), or the ones that cost the house the least to make (biggest profit margin for the restaurant).

Mind you, this was a very simple-to-follow menu that had maybe 30 items on it.  Ownership would actually advocate taking 2 1/2-3 minutes to describe as much as 1/3 of the menu to you.  I have no idea whether said restaurant is still actively partaking in this practice, because I haven't eaten or worked there in more than two years, but there you go.

A lot of menus do legitimately need some sort of explanation, but that's usually accomplished quickly.  If you're a small-plates restaurant, a recommendation on the number of plates to order isn't out of line, and very helpful for someone who isn't familiar with the size of the portions the kitchen is putting out.  But a full-on "guided tour" of the menu?  That's never helpful.  That's a sales pitch.  And unfortunately, the practice has become so common that I've taken to telling people in my opening monologue that the menu is pretty self-explanatory - I now have to tell people that they don't need me to hold their hand and tell them what to order.

By the way, helpful hint from a server: if you do get the server who wants to tell you the restaurant's life story, your out is to interrupt with "Actually, we've been here before."  Most servers will respond with "Oh, well welcome back!" and leave it at that, saving you from the whole song and dance.  The tables who haven't been in before are the ones that I can do the majority of my upselling to anyway, because they don't know anything about my restaurant, and are more receptive to my suggestions.  If you do get the moron who then still continues to trudge forward with explaining 40 different menu items, just stare blankly into space and leave him the 10% tip at the end that he will undoubtedly earn through the course of your meal.

Have the terms "Animal-style,"  "Double-Double," and so on actually been trademarked?  In some cases it would seem to be a stretch.

I hope he at least ordered his fries well-done!

They have been, but I'd imagine that the trademark doesn't extend beyond restaurant usage, and it may be much more specific than that.

The Silver Spring location has closed; it was dark, and stripped bare when I was walking past it this afternoon.

Am I missing something, or is a food purveyor calling itself "Steak and Shake" while not serving any steak?

They refer to their burgers as "steakburgers," because of the cuts that they grind for them.

Wow.

For *you*, with your excellent track record of being a courteous diner, to get *this* pissed off ... let's just say: I believe every word you write here.

I'm sorry this happened to you - it can ruin an entire evening, no matter how relentlessly optimistic and forgiving you are.

You may want to write Clyde's, point them to this post, and share the server's name on the check. They don't want this type of thing any more than you do - this is clearly the case of one individual having a *horrible* night, for whatever reason. They'll know very well if this is an aberration, or the norm, and will act accordingly.

Just to follow up, the friends who were most affected by everything (I joined late in the meal) did write to Clyde's, and were given a $150 gift card for their troubles.  So props to Clyde's management/corporate for doing everything they reasonably could on our end to remedy the situation after the fact.

Up to $250 per head.

And Rogue 24 is, what?  Less than half that, now?

To our server last night at the Gallery Place Clyde's:

Don't tell me that I'm a fool for ordering a Jim Beam and Coke because you think that your ridiculous house cocktails (with ingredients like Pinnacle whipped cream vodka) are more "tasty."  I drink what I like.  I think sweet flavored vodkas are shit.  And I think they're even more shit when mixed with Malibu, pineapple juice, and a fucking whipped cream garnish.

Don't get frustrated with me when you're asked, for the third time, for a chair to cap the table so I can sit down.  I'm currently standing like an idiot at your table with my friends.  It's not my fucking fault that, 10 minutes and two visits after I arrived and you said "I'll be right back with that," you couldn't be bothered to make sure I had a place to comfortably sit down.

Don't come to the table and admit that, 40 minutes after appetizers hit the table, you forgot to ring in the entrees, then come back to the table and try and tell me that it was either the kitchen or management that caused the massive delay.  You've already told me what the problem was - it was YOU.  I might have believed you if you lied to me up front, but coming up with that lie afterwards in an attempt to save your tip?  Fuck.  Off.

And if you DO forget to ring in entrees?  Make fucking sure that my friend's salad comes out with the dressing on the side, like she ordered it.  Or that my friend's chili dog gets the extra chili on his fries, as he ordered it.  Forgetting to ring in entrees happens from time to time.  Forgetting to ring in modifications happens from time to time.  Fucking up ringing in an order after forgetting to ring in entrees is totally fucking unacceptable under any circumstances, and makes me think that you're either completely incompetent on every level, or were working while drunk.  Considering the number of times you were slurring words while talking to our table, I'm tempted to believe it was the latter.

But most offensive in my book?  You actually have the audacity to drop a check with everything on it, including the numbers of rounds of cocktails ordered while waiting for the food that you couldn't be bothered to order.  FUCKING UP SERVICE IS NOT A STRATEGY TO DRIVE UP YOUR CHECK AVERAGE, JACKASS.  After pointing out that you were out of your fucking mind, you were kind enough to remove one round of cocktails.  That doesn't even begin to atone for the many sins against the restaurant industry you perpetrated throughout our overlong stay at your table, but at least it gives me hope that you're not a total fucking space cadet.

As a member of the service industry, I understand that the job isn't easy, and as a result, I'll often leave 20% even when there's some significant hiccups in the service.  But last night wasn't a case of simple mistakes - it felt like an attempt to actively sabotage our attempt at a good time.  I have only stiffed a server once before in my life - last night made it two, which you probably didn't notice, because my friends inexplicably left 15% on their portion of the bill.  But if you do somehow find this, know that if it had been in my hands, I would have been happy to leave you absolutely nothing on the $210 of food and (mostly) drink that we accumulated.  I would have left Clyde's happier last night had a manager come up to me and told me that I had to order and run our own food and drinks.  As it is, the chance that I might ever encounter such grossly incompetent service with such mediocre food basically guarantees that I never set foot into a Clyde's restaurant again.

And if you do find this, please do your brothers and sisters in the service profession a favor, and quit your job.  Immediately.  It's assholes like you that cause patrons to come into our restaurants and assume that we're idiots from the start.  Most of us care, and want to do everything we can to make sure the guest has a good time.  You, my friend, clearly could not give a shit.

Sign in the window says that The Classics will be closed to install a new HVAC system starting tomorrow (January 1), and lists a re-opening date of January 16.

On the other hand, NRG likes big, new toys. While GBD is still somewhat new, it's not very big. Do not be surprised to see some of the smaller establishments shutter in the next few years - just to be clear, I have absolutely *no* basis to say this other than pure speculation on the general situation - certainly nothing at all specific about NRG. Would you keep Tallula open if you owned ChurchKey and BlueJacket? Maybe if it's making money and it's not a lot of trouble, or perhaps if they own the building. NRG has gone big in recent years, and they seem to be doing very well at it - it is astonishing how many operations they now own.

The fact that it's not very big means it'd be even easier for them to just keep running it and hope that you forget about it.  Closing GBD would be an admission of failure that would generate negative press for the group.  So long as they're not hemorrhaging cash from the smaller operation, it might be worth it to them to just strip the place down to its absolute minimum in terms of staff, and keep throwing money down the hole in an effort to not have to admit defeat.

Now, if they'd be changing the concept altogether, obviously all bets are off.

Remember when Pedro Matamoros was going to buy the Golden Flame?  Or at least revitalize it?

Shuttered.  Heard about it for the first time last night, saw it for myself today, then heard elsewhere that it's actually been a couple of weeks.

Just opened sometime in the last week or so.  For reference, this is in the site that was previously Stage Burger, and was Sabroso before that.  And since that didn't help you for reference, it's two doors closer to the Fillmore than The Classics.

http://www.zensaisushi.com/

Haven't been able to see much, as they have large logo decals blocking out much of their window space, and a large Christmas tree occupying one of the two double doors, so visibility from the street is minimal.  I will say this much, though - it leaves a sour taste in my mouth when you run to Yelp to put a five-star review up for your own restaurant, complete with obvious press photos that also appear on the restaurant's website.

Soup and Fuzzy are not confirmed as yet.

Ilaine 1 for the 4th and 3 for the 9th is what i have.  

Apologies, life got in the way there for a bit.  I'll call in ASAP to confirm.

I'm sorry, I'm a bit dense - are there still seats on the 9th?  If so, may I go ahead and claim one?

Meeting up with a friend for brunch tomorrow, which itself is not difficult, but she is a vegetarian.  I don't need to find a place that is strictly vegetarian, but I'd like to find a place that had more than one or two options.

We're both in Silver Spring, but most anything in DC is fair game.  Metro-accessible preferred.  Virginia really isn't an option.

Thanks!

Really? I think the dinner menu looks decent and I would happily order 20 of the 24 items on the menu. Now, if it was a "small plate" menu......

It certainly looks decent.  But it also looks like it's a boring, nondescript hotel restaurant.  If I was staying there and didn't want to venture out into the city, I'd be perfectly happy to eat there.  But I'm not, and I do, so it's a total non-starter for me.

And I swear, if I see Kobe sliders on another "Asian" menu, I'm going to lose it.

Here are the initial menus.washington-restaurant-muze-lunch.pdfwashington-restaurant-muze-dinner.pdfwashington-restaurant-muze-brunch.pdfwashington-restaurant-muze-breakfast.pdf

I'm not sure that they could've assembled a more boring opening menu if they tried.  That dinner menu is about as by-the-numbers as it gets.

I've driven past Fire Station 1 twenty times, and haven't had the temerity to go in. Does it have anything to do with Hook and Ladder anymore?

For that matter, when's the last time anyone has seen a Hook and Ladder beer? I'm not asking this facetiously - I honestly haven't seen one in a long time now.

They never had anything to do with Hook and Ladder, at least not for as long as they were open.  Hook and Ladder pulled out of the project before it ever initially opened to the public.

And I had actually heard for the first time today (while ranting to a co-worker about last night) that Hook and Ladder went out of business altogether.  This was the first I'd heard of it, but it would help explain their practically non-existant website.

Ended up here for trivia last night with a friend, and it was just awful.  Our server was totally clueless, and was only able to recall Yuengling and Hoegaarden from the beers on tap.  Then our Yuenglings were delivered only to find that they were incredibly bitter - I'd be willing to wager that their tap lines hadn't been cleaned in a long time.

However, the beers didn't get sent back, nor did we order food, because our server didn't pop back around for about another 45 minutes or so.  And by that time, I just didn't care anymore.  You probably shouldn't either.

Walked by heading in to work today to discover that Stage Burger Lounge is closed.  And after doing some research, it apparently had been for about two months.  Goes to show you how much I cared about the place.

I've heard rumors that there was an ownership change after some major licensing issues cropped up, but I can't confirm that.  What I can confirm is that at some point, they attempted to turn the place into a quasi-nightclub on weekends to go along with the horrible food.  Basically, it was the textbook definition of a shitshow.

Apparently I get to both open and close the discussion on this place.  Yay?

Forgive me for judging a place without ever stepping foot inside of it, but this sounds like the dumbest fucking idea I have ever heard.

Maybe once, just to see what the fuss is about. But a regular drinking spot? No way.

Joni Mitchell never lies...

"Paved paradise to put up a parking lot."

Guys, I've figured it out. Michael is turning RtC into the corporate offices of his new demolition company, Raze the Classics.